Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators have a history of producing last over thrillers and this one was no different. With 6 required off the final over, the onus was on the young Hasnain to deliver the goods for his team. And he kept his composure for the first two deliveries producing a perfect yorker to dismiss Wahab Riaz and then keeping his cool to run out Saqib Mehmood. What followed next was an absolute shocker as Hasnain bowled a wide one out of Sarfaraz’s reach that went for a boundary to bring down the equation to 1 of 4. The next ball, a boundary by Sherfane Rutherford handed Quetta their third defeat in a row.
Chasing a target of 199, Zalmi suffered the loss of their talisman Kamran Akmal very early. He went for just 3. Kohler Cadmore started where he left in the last game and deposited his second ball to the boundary but Steyn’s experience got the better of him as he was dismissed on 4.
After early losses, Imam-ul-Haq and Haider Ali resurrected the innings and stitched a 52 run partnership. The duo were looking good but a sustained pressure exerted by spinners from both ends got the better of Imam as he tried to hit Zahid out of the ground and lost his wicket.
Haider made a terrific half-century and batting with the experienced Shoaib Malik added another 50 runs to keep Zalmi in the hunt. Dale Steyn removed Haider on the first ball of his new spell. The right-hander made 50 of just 28 balls. With Zalmi needing 80 from 7 overs, Malik decided to change his gear as well as he smacked Zahid Mehmood for a six and boundary on consecutive deliveries. He was eventually trapped by Ben Cutting in front of the stumps for 34.
With 37 needed of the last three overs, Sherfane Rutherford hit two consecutive sixes off Mohammad Hasnain in the 18th over to take the game close, as Zalmi needed 27 runs more from last 2 overs. In the next over Sherfane and Wahab got the better of Dale Steyn and dispatched him for three sixes.
In the first innings, captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and Azam Khan’s 105-run partnership helped Quetta Gladiators reach 198-7 against Peshawar Zalmi. After a flying start from Saim, Peshawar struck back as Mohammad Imran removed Delport early for two. Faf du Plessis showed his class and experience to keep the score board moving without taking any considerable risks.
Meanwhile, skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed was aggressive from the word go as he raced to 24 from his first 10 deliveries, taking Quetta to 87-2 at the end of 10 overs. Faf du Plessis tried to up the ante but was outfoxed by a cutter from Wahab Riaz and was caught by Mujeeb for 37.
Sarfaraz was joined by young Azam Khan and the duo provided much-needed acceleration to Quetta innings as they brought up the fifty-run partnership in only 30 balls. Sarfaraz completed his first fifty in PSL this season in only 31 balls, as he hit three consecutive boundaries against Mohammad Imran. After Imran, Sarfaraz took a liking to Wahab as he dispatched the Zalmi captain to all corners in the 19th over before getting caught at long-on for 81.
Saqib Mehmood bowled a brilliant last over that went for just five and removed Azam Khan, Ben Cutting and Mohammad Nawaz to stop Quetta from reaching the 200 mark.
